Honda's EV Challenge

Reuters reported that Honda Motor Co HMC and Toyota Motor Corporation TM, are criticizing a new proposal by Democratic lawmakers to expand tax credits for EVs, as they find it discriminating against non-union auto workers. Under the proposal, US union-made EVs would qualify for a tax credit of $12,500 per vehicle, significantly favoring Big Three US automakers General Motors GM, Ford Motor F, and Fiat Chrysler over non-union companies such as Tesla Inc TSLA and the Japanese carmakers that have plants in the US. Meanwhile, the credit for most other EV such as that of Honda that has plants in Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio would be behind at $7,500.

Better Late Than Never

A month ago, Honda's UK boss Jean-Marc Streng confirmed to Auto Express the arrival of its second electric car. Honda may have been a pioneer along with Toyota when it boarded the hybrid train in 1999, but just like its giant peer, it has lagged other automakers when it comes to jumping into the EV game. Although Honda offered an EV in the US briefly, it was withdrawn before you got to see it on the road.

But the new EV is scheduled to join the e-city car in 2023. Auto Express expects it to be a crossover similar to the concept that was revealed at last year's Beijing Motor Show. Honda's e city car is already doing great, bringing new, younger customers to the firm with more than 85% conquest customers. Honda is attracting new customers and seeing a drop of 4 years of the average age in just two years, according to Streng. With Honda's range expanding, the firm's dealer network being transformed with fewer franchises, May 2021 had the best retail volume in half of a decade.

Growing In A Healthy Way

The new all-electric Honda will join a range that will be fully electrified by 2022 in the UK, eight years before the government's goal. It already has hybrids for Jazz and Jazz Crosstar, HR-V will be launched in October, making a seamless transition between ICE, hybrid and electric. The CR-V hybrid and the electric Civic are coming next year.

CEO Toshihiro Mibe has detailed Honda's major electrification transformation that consists of battery-electric (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Under the strategy, the automaker plans to introduce a new EV Platform called "e:Architecture" during the second half of this decade.

Zero-Emissions Strategy

The company aims to increase the ratio of BEV and FCVs within overall unit sales to 40% in all major markets by 2030 and double it to 80% by 2035 with the aim to offer 100% of zero-emission cars across the globe by 2040. Honda plans to field two large EVs through its partnership with General Motor as it will use its Ultium battery powertrain with plans to field its own platforms after 2025.  Honda is only one of just a handful of players in the hydrogen field alongside Toyota, Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft BMWYY, and Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF that recently confirmed several new and updated models coming next year.

The 20-year EV vision is at the very least ambitious given how many vehicles Honda sells each year in the US. To have one major automaker dial up to 40% of its North American offerings be electric or fuel-cell by the year 2030 is a big jump on its own, especially with plans to double it only five years later to 80% and make it 100% by the end of the next decade. Honda may get points for being an early player in the hybrid game, but that achievement cannot guarantee its success on the EV playfield which has a whole new set of complex and costly challenges.

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